Puzzle.



PATENTED APR. ll, 1905.

J. D. MIDSON.

PUZZLE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7,1904

m n m fill/Emma I fames DMIJdson WITNESSES mQ/ I Patented April 11, 1905.

QFFICE,

J, QUEENSLANI'), AUSTRALIA.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,204, dated April 11, 1905.

Application filed July 7, 1904. Serial No. 215,572.

T!) r/// whom 1'! may come/Wit:

lie it known that l, Janus DAxInL Minsox, a subject of the King of (treat Britain, residing at South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 5 have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Puzzles, of which the following is a specification. such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

I The object of this invention is to provide an improved puzzle which is simple in construction and comparatively inexpensive and the solution of which is difficult, but may be accomplished by the exercise of care, skill,

and ingenuity in the manipulation of the device, a further object being to provide a device of the class specified which particularly designed to amuse both old and young.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which 5 Figure l is a perspective view of my improved puzzle; Fig. 2, a horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

in the practice of my invention I provide 3 an oblong box or casing (1, comprising a bottom side walls 1/, and end walls a. At

each end of the box or casing is a traiisverselyarranged house or inclosure 7/, formed by the end walls 1/ of the box or casing, the side walls (1 thereof, a transversely-arranged front Wall If, and a roof or cover 7/. The front walls 6 of the houses or inclosures 7' are provided centrally with openings or doors I), and in the opposite side portions of the said houses or inclosures and resting on the bottom a" are placed blocks 7/, the inner or adjacent faces of which are inclined from the end walls a forwardly and inwardly and join or connect with the front walls if, as shown at 7/", so as to form compartments Z), the side walls of which converge forwardly and inwardly toward the doors or openings 7;, but do not extend entirely to said doors.

\Yithin the box or casing u is placed a plu- 5 rality of spherical balls or bodies, which, as

Lll

[ shown in the drawings, are eight in number and half of which are colored, so as to distinguish them from the other half, all of said balls or bodies, as shown in the drawings, being colored. a part of them being colored red and the other part blue; and the solution of the puzzle consists in manipulating the device so that the balls or bodies of one color will be lodged in the compartment If of one of the houses or inclosures and the remaining balls,

or bodies in the compartments 7' of the other house or inclosure I). This solution is exceedingly diflicult by reason of the shape of the compartments and by reason of the fact that the balls or bodies are free to roll over the surface of the bottom (1 It will be seen that the front walls of the compartments If consist only of the narrow upright portions 0 of the front walls 0" of the houses or inclosures at the opposite sides of the doors 7), and while these narrow upright walls will aid in holding three of the balls in position in one of said compartn'ients if the box or casing be properly held or tilted slightly to one side four or more of said balls cannot be held in one of said compartments, except on the opposite sides of the door thereof, and this necessitates an exact adjustn'ient of the position of the box or casing and careful and accurate manipulation thereof in order to lodge all the balls of one color in one compartment and all those of the other color in the other compartment. The solution may, however, as hereinbefore stated, he accomplished by the exercise of care and skill in the manipulation of the device, and in practice I prefer to provide the front walls If of the houses or inclosures 7) with openings or windows (I at the opposite sides of the doors 7); but these openings or windows have not function and are only added for the purpose of ornamentation.

By reason of the covers 7) of the houses or inclosures 7) the partitions in said houses or inclosures are concealed, and the shape and dimensions of the compartments therein are also concealed, and this renders the solution of the puzzle much more difficult than would appear from a casual inspection of the device.

It will be observed that the box or casing in is oblong and rectangular in form; but various modifications in the form of the box or casing may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages. It will also be observed that there is an open space 6 between the houses or inclosures b, which may be of any desired dimensions and the bottom of which is flush with the bottoms of the compartments and, if desired, a transparent cover may be placed over the open space 0.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A puzzle, comprising a box or casing having transversely-arranged inclosures at the opposite ends thereof and within which are central compartments, the front walls of said inclosures being provided with openings or doors which communicate with said compartments, and the side walls of said compartments being inclined from the outer ends of the box or casing inwardly and forwardly to the front walls of said inclosu-res, said inclosures and compartments being also provided with opaque covers and a plurality of balls or bodies placed in said box or casing part of which are distinguished from the others, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 3d day of June, 1904.

JAMES DANIEL MIDSON.

Witnesses:

SADIE LYON, HENRY MAJoRIBANKs CHESTER. 

